he served as a top prosecutor at the county level in massachusetts and went on to be elected to be governor. two years later, he was elected to the united states senate where he served for 28 years. the last four of those years he served as the chairman of the senate foreign relations committee. in fact, he has been a leader and virtually every foreign- policy issue for the united states over the past three decades. this year, he became the first sitting chairman of that committee in over a century to become secretary of state. two weeks ago, i was honored to travel to asia with secretary kerry where you push key initiatives like the trans- pacific partnership. he has knowledge and global reach in this leadership position. ladies and gentlemen, let's give a warm welcome to a national hero, a man who he would dedicate his life to serve the united states in a tireless and can do way and is dealing with the tough issues that face our world. please help me welcome my friend secretary of state, john kerry. [applause] >> good morning. thank you. thank you very much. thank you for an extraordinary